Surpassing the title Hokage
by Sir Chris
Summary: An old man reflects on the past that should have been Konoha's future. Yondaime centered for the most part. Oneshot. Also this fic is in the section 4th HokageSarutobi, but fear not, that's not the pairing!


A/N: This idea came to me in the middle of writing chapter 5 for "Konoha's Yellow Flash really hates paperwork" and decided to write it quickly. This could be (and it is my intention for it to be) seen as a companion piece to aforementioned piece of fiction, although this piece is not humor based as Yellow Flash is.

That being said, you will note I didn't mention Yellow Flash in the summary because I do not believe in relying on my other pieces of fanfiction to succeed in others. If you have not read Yellow Flash (hates paperwork) then this fic is still very easy to read while never reading that, before or after this. Although I'd say you should, as it is awesome!

Thanks Skarm for betaing this chapter, if you wish to check out some of Skarm's personal work then please to go my profile and click my favorite authors, Skarm will be located there!

Also, if you find _any_ errors whatsoever, blame Skarm. Hooray scapegoating…

Also, holy crap I am plugging things to hell and back in this A/N, how totally unprofessional of me.

Anyway…

Enjoy.

**Surpassing the title Hokage**

The Sandaime Hokage sighed. He was very frustrated.

It had to do with young Uzumaki Naruto and the treatment he had been receiving from the villagers. While none of them dared defy his word, they were always so cold to young Naruto. A young child could not survive in this world without the warmth of a family, be it by blood or not. Sarutobi was frightened for Naruto and his mental well being. He had seen this type of treatment before from the village, and it had turned out very badly.

_Orochimaru, if only I had done a better job with shielding you from this village's hatred. Then maybe you could have been someone honorable._

He did not want the young blonde to walk anywhere near the path that his former star pupil had. And while it was very hard to imagine the bundle of sunshine that Naruto was ever could be compared to the pale and ever frowning Snake Nin, the village's treatment of him was frighteningly similar.

Getting up from his desk and picking up a pipe, the Sandaime decided to take a walk to visit the boy who had been dominating his thoughts recently.

Sarutobi slowly headed towards the center of town, taking time to look at the large and imposing face of Yondaime Hokage, otherwise known as Uzumaki Arashi.

_I am sorry old friend; I have failed in my duty to your son. I wish it could have been me instead of you, Arashi. You had a bright future ahead of you. It was always you who was to replace me, ever since Jiraiya brought you before me that first time…_

**Flashback**

Jiraiya was grinning madly. He couldn't wait to show his sensei the person he had found to be his apprentice. He had always been last when it came to their team in terms everything where they were competing directly. Well, no more! While one constantly got drunk and the other was too busy loving himself to do much of anything else, Jiraiya had found himself an apprentice!

Granted, the little twerp had far more of an attitude problem than a ninja of Jiraiya's stature should ever have to put up with, but he was a good kid with an untapped charisma that rolled off of him in waves, and he didn't even realize it! To think, if Jiraiya taught him how to hone that type of charisma, why, once he got a few more years under his twelve year old belt, he could get Jiraiya all sorts of women!

…

What? It's _still_ Jiraiya, folks.

Stopping his nose bleed that had formed, he led his blonde haired apprentice into Hokage Tower where he stopped and looked around awed.

"Hey, this is a pretty cool place. Not the type of place I thought a pervert like you would be allowed to visit, heh heh." Jiraiya hit his apprentice across the face sending him into a wall.

"I am not a pervert! I am the great Frog Sannin, Jiraiya!" He struck a pose while the blonde shook off the hit.

"Whatever, Jiraiya-sensei."

They ascended the stairs where Jiraiya waved to the secretary while walking past her to the Hokage's office. For her part, the secretary was telling Jiraiya that the Hokage was seeing someone else at the moment and he'd have to come back later. He shrugged and entered the office anywhere.

"Orochimaru, really, isn't it a bit soon to-"

"Eh?" Jiraiya made an indecent sound as he saw Orochimaru and the Sandaime Hokage sitting across from each other sipping on some tea.

"Hello, Jiraiya-kun." Orochimaru smiled politely at Jiraiya, like he almost always did.

"Yo." Jiraiya casually waved to- or off- Orochimaru.

The Sandaime sat down his tea and raised an eyebrow at his student.

"It is unlike you to stop by unannounced… or at all for that matter. What do I owe this visit to?"

Jiraiya began to grin madly while Sandaime began to get very worried.

"Sensei, I found myself an apprentice!"

At this Orochimaru spat out the tea that he had been sipping and stared in amazement. Sandaime had a similar reaction.

"So… you finally got someone who had enough innocence to offset your perverse nature enough to get you laid, Jiraiya?"

"Yes, exactly."

The room's temperature dropped 20 degrees and Jiraiya was getting very nervous.

"Er… Tsunade?"

"Yes?" A sickeningly sweet voice returned.

"I am about to be hurting, aren't I?"

These would later become very famous last words, if not for the blonde boy who was going to apprentice under Jiraiya.

"Please do not hurt Jiraiya-sensei, I still need his help."

Orochimaru and Tsunade hid their surprise well. Tsunade was surprised because Jiraiya had actually gotten someone with manners to be around him. Orochimaru on the other hand was because he hadn't even noticed the kid's presence.

_I know I was focused on Jiraiya's loud mouth, but still… I could have been dead if that was an assassin in disguise._ Orochimaru thought bitterly.

Jiraiya was just thankful his charismatic apprentice had decided to step in between himself and Tsunade's fist, and remained silent for once.

Tsunade, being the supposed nice one, bent down to the kid's level and her eyes curved up into a smiling face. "Hello there, what's your name?" The kid straightened up a bit and extended his hand towards hers.

"I am Uzumaki Arashi, and I am going to surpass the title of Hokage!"

He was met with silence. The 3rd Hokage sat in utter silence quite unsure what to make of the statement. Jiraiya wore a small grin on his face, acting unsurprised at his apprentice's words. Tsunade was impassive towards the statement, as if she didn't really care one way or the other. Orochimaru on the other hand was furious.

"How _dare_ you belittle the title of Hokage! Only the greatest of shinobi can hold the status of Kage! What makes a little brat like you so special to spit on that? I should kill you where you-" He would have continued, but was cut off by Sandaime.

"That is quite enough, Orochimaru." The finality in his voice was not missed by Orochimaru, who bowed his head obediently and did not speak another word.

Sarutobi looked at Arashi with an appraising gleam in his eyes. The boy was slightly under average height for his age. There was nothing spectacular about his appearance save for the wildness of the multi shaded blue garments that he wore and the messy golden locks of hair adorning his head. Currently he was sporting a wide grin on his face and rude hand gestures at Orochimaru. The Sandaime was amused by the antics, as most people were too fearful of his prized student to even talk to him, much less be confrontational with him. _I can tell why you like him, Jiraiya._

"Becoming Hokage is no easy feat. Those who do not have the will of fire inside of them are destined to die or worse long before they can be the ever watching shadow of this village. How is it one can surpass becoming a shadow of fire, Arashi-kun?"

Arashi had his head bent for a long moment, almost looking ashamed he had spoken so brashly. However, his head soon popped again and a smile played his lips. It was a very confident smile.

Sarutobi would later revisit what seemed to happen before his eyes next. He didn't doubt for a moment that none of his students even began to catch what happened. It seemed that a shadow extended from Arashi's body, and behind him stood a vision of a man that resembled him. Sandaime stilled as they both seemed to speak to him at the same time, both of their voices overlapping one another.

"Hokage is a silly title, if you ask me. An ever watching shadow of fire? It seems a bit mundane and thankless. I wish to not become a shadow, but to become an endless source of light for anyone I encounter. Who needs crappy titles to protect everyone?" He paused, seemingly startled by his own words. He swallowed hard and continued:

"I-I… I don't want to ever see a little boy crying because he was alone in this world. I don't want people minding their own business being slaughtered simply because they were target practice for scum ninja! I… I want to be someone who can protect others, not sit back helplessly and watch as his precious people die! That is my dream Hokage-sama!" The fire in the young blonde's eyes almost lit up the room as the Sarutobi just looked at him with a neutral expression. The Sannin, including Jiraiya, looked stunned by the outburst.

Sandaime got up from his chair and looked out the window.

"Very well, Uzumaki Arashi, you may apprentice under Jiraiya."

**End Flashback**

The old man smiled as he remembered how much the future 4th had scratched the back of his head after that saying he didn't know what had come over him. It would be years until Jiraiya would admit to finding him among the wreckage of a horrible massacre of many civilian merchants and traders. All signs pointed to it being a random Rock Nin raid, given the traces of earth jutsu that were left behind. Since the carts of items didn't seem to be taken, it was determined that the slaughter was more than likely just for practice, and nothing more.

Although he never said anything about it, he guessed this would be the reason that anyone who did not surrender in the rock war was met with a brutal death at the hands of 'Konoha's Yellow Flash.' The normally kind man turned into a demon out on the battlefield…

_I didn't have the heart to call him out on it… I even admired him for it in a way._

Sandaime sighed and decided on what he was going to do to help cheer Naruto up.

_Today is when you start on the path of the Shinobi, Naruto-kun._

With that thought in his mind, the professor of shinobi took a puff from his pipe and entered the gate to Naruto's apartment.

**End**

**A/N**: This was a bit weird, admittedly. I just wanted to write something kind of unique.


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